Earthfall Review

Earthfall is a first-person cooperative team shooter video game. It has been published and developed by Holospark. It was released on 13th July 2018 and is available to play on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC. When assembling your team, you can choose to play online or in single-player mode. If you choose to play in single-player mode, the other characters will be controlled by AI. Holospark is an independent game developer that is privately funded. To create Earthfall, Holospark have used the Unreal Engine in the game’s development which has helped them massively.

Fight or Flight

The story of Earthfall centers around a cataclysmic meteor impact that has brought aliens to Earth. You work as a team to destroy the aliens in waves. There are special types of aliens to fight, as well as the standard aliens. The game is very fast-paced, and the key is to work together. The game is best played with friends so that the AI isn’t getting in your way. I have found that using a headset whilst playing with friends will make things easier so that you can discuss what steps to take next. You can build barricades, find weapons, heal yourself and your team, plan your strategy and even build weapons using in-game 3D printers. It is also important to know when to just run away.

Choose who you want to play as when assembling your team, stats aren’t a factor. Choosing a character will not affect any statistics like movement speed, strength, weapons handling or health. Choosing who to play as is for vanity purposes only. Traverse around different maps whilst fighting to survive. At the moment there are two campaigns available that have five maps in each campaign. You can select which map you would like to explore. You can then choose the difficulty of the aliens and the strength of any AI characters that are within your team.

Non-Stop Action

Earthfall, as I have mentioned, is extremely fast-paced. If you stop to take a bit of a break, you will soon be surrounded. It is great fun to play and brings people together. Even though you can’t really stop to take in the surroundings, it is obvious that the terrain has fairly decent graphics. Some of the dialogue between the characters can be very humorous and definitely relates to the sci-fi nerd inside of me. Earthfall is a fun-fueled, action-packed, friendly game that is perfect for a lazy Sunday. It is certain to get your adrenaline pumping because you will not be allowed to slow down from the amount of aliens that are thrown at you. Who needs exercise to get their heart going when they could just play a bit of Earthfall?

Is This Deja Vu?

Since Earthfall has been released, there has been a lot of comparisons to Left 4 Dead. Earthfall is extremely similar to Left 4 Dead, with the only real difference being the inclusion of aliens. You are also unable to play as one of the aliens. In Left 4 Dead, one of the group could take on the role of the monster, but this isn’t so in Earthfall.

One of the main issues with Earthfall is that the graphics of the terrain are better than the graphics of the actual aliens. It’s hard to determine any defining features of an alien. There is also an issue with the movement and aiming system, which takes some time getting used to. It does not feel like your typical first-person shooter and, at first, does not feel natural. The loading times to enter the game can be frustrating as they seem to take forever. There are also long wait times to be paired online if you don’t have three friends available to make up the rest of your team. There seems to be a lack of community when waiting for a group.

Earthfall: Alien Mayhem

At the moment, Earthfall feels like a mini-game. It has a lack of a community, and there are not many maps. When you have completed the maps that are available, it feels a bit repetitive. The game is a lot of fun to play, and I have really enjoyed working as a team with my friends. I am hoping that Holospark bring additional content with new maps into the fold so that I can pick it up again with my friends.

Earthfall is fully packed with different aliens to destroy, and the waves of aliens can be overwhelming. It is quite challenging when trying to instruct others on what steps to take next. A friend can also easily be left behind amidst all the chaos, so it is important to keep communication open. The fact that you can create new weapons using the in-game 3D printers is very clever, and it is easy to see that the game doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Developer: Holospark

Publisher: Holospark

Platforms: Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC

Release Date: 13th July 2018

Holospark dont seem to have an official website, but here is their YouTube channel

Summary

Earthfall is extremely fun to play and is a great game to share with friends. It has some issues with graphics and with its lack of an online community, but overall it is a great game. If you enjoy Left 4 Dead and team-based first-person shooters, then this is the game for you.